Building the perfect console

Since the beginning of home gaming, consumers have wanted something bigger and better than whatever was currently on the market. It’s only natural to expect technology to improve over time, and while Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii are all more advanced than their predecessors they are far from the ideal gaming machine. Despite what each of the console manufacturers may want you to think, there is no “perfect” gaming machine available for purchase. If only we could take the best aspects of each of the systems and create the ultimate home gaming machine…

Thankfully the human mind is capable of imagining hypothetical situations, so lets apply that talent to the dream of creating this mythical box. For the sake of avoiding tech arguments, we’ll just assume that the system would have the most advanced processing power available at the time of it’s construction. However, from there we have many options so lets begin.

Games: Looking strictly at this generation it seems Xbox 360 is taking the lion’s share of quality titles up to this point. With exclusives like the Gears franchise, Halo 3 and Bioshock, as well as solid 3rd party support with most games running as well (or better) than on the PS3. Perfect Console pick – Xbox 360

Hardware: There are several things to consider in this category so let’s break it down a bit further.

Reliability: This category is clearly a no-brainer. Xbox 360’s hardware reliability is atrocious to say the least. I’ve only heard of a couple of cases of bricked Wii’s, but that’s also more than the near perfect hardware record of Playstation 3. Perfect Console pick – PS3

Disc Loading: Disc trays are SO 1999 and automatic loading disc slots are clearly the wave of the future. Wii and PS3 meet wits in this aspect, but the winner? Wii’s disc slot lights up when used. Perfect Console pick – Wii

Controller: The big question here really is motion control or no motion control. Well, until a company can get perfect 1:1 motion recognition for a controller it has no place in the feature list of the perfect console. In terms of ergonomics the one controller that sports no motion control also happens to be the most comfortable by far. Perfect Console pick – Xbox 360 (including PS3’s standard rechargeable internal batteries).

Miscellaneous: Here is where we get to throw in all the extra pieces that make each console unique and really flesh out our perfect gaming machine.

Blu-ray Drive - The reason for this goes without saying, Blu-ray won, not much else to say here. Bigger storage space, plays HD movies, has a cool name.

Achievements- aka: GamerCrack, ensures that you’ll play through your favorite game on Super Ultra Hardcore difficulty just for those extra 20 points.

In-Game XMB – Xbox 360’s media bar options are so close to perfect that it boggles the mind why Sony hasn’t just straight up copied them.

Free Online Play – I want Xbox LIVE service, matchmaking, and the PSN’s dedicated servers for the cost of the PSN (read: free).

Online Store – Ideally I’d like to have every single game from the Magnavox Odyssey up to the Sega Dreamcast available for spontaneous purchase and download 24 hours a day. However, if this ever happened I’d probably have to get a second job just to support my addiction.

So there you have it. The “perfect” gaming console, or at least as close to it as this human brain can figure. Is there anything you’d add? Anything you see that’s missing? Feel free to make your feelings known, and lets make this fictional machine even better.